CHENNAI: After the first six rounds of this IPL, Kings XI Punjab were leading the pack with five wins. Their openers — KL Rahul and Chris Gayle — were the architects, providing the ammunition at the top. Then they lost a game and had a one-week break. Whatever momentum they had gathered dissipated, and it has since been a long trudge downhill. They have lost four of their last five, putting their play-off chances in jeopardy. One of the major reasons for this slump is their over-reliance on the top two. Rahul (2nd) and Gayle (15th) are the only two from Punjab among the top-20 rungetters, and have accounted for nearly half their runs. Whenever they have failed, their middle- order has been unable to rescue them.
“When a team wins, you tend to overlook the flaws. Punjab are a classic case of that. In the first half of the event, they were the team to beat, and their openers were the stars, especially Rahul. But now that their susceptibility to short balls has been laid bare, their middle-order has been brutally exposed,” former India batsman Lalchand Rajput told Express. Skipper R Ashwin has tried to plug that hole by shuffling the pack, but to no avail. Ten batsmen have been tried this season.
The captain had even promoted himself to No 3 against Rajasthan Royals, only to register a two-ball duck. Only a solitary fifty has been scored by Punjab’s middle-order, courtesy Karun Nair (in pic). Mayank Agarwal has gotten starts, but has not converted them. The less said about Yuvraj Singh, the better. “We have a problem with our batting. We have not played according to the situation,” was Ashwin’ s assessment after their loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore on Monday.
With three foreign positions sealed by Gayle, Andrew Tye and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Punjab’s middle-order options have been limited to one of either Marcus Stoinis, Aaron Finch or David Miller. Stoinis has been decent at fourdown, and Finch has failed miserably. But Miller has not got much game-time. “Ashwin has tried to be proactive, but Punjab’s main flaw has been their failure to find their strongest XI. Their players are under pressure, and that is not helping them. A cool head is needed out in the middle, which they are lacking. Punjab need to pull their socks up if they want to make the play-offs.”
ayantan@newindianexpress.com
Kings-sized test for MI
Express takes a look what promises to be a tantalising affair between MI & Punjab...
MUMBAI INDIANS
PLAY-OFF CHANCES
A loss against RR has dented their hopes. But, wins from their next two clashes & a good net run
rate may still see them squeak through to play-offs.
WHAT THEY NEED
Batting spine in Suryakumar Yadav & Evin Lewis failed to capitalise. Rohit Sharma willneed to get back among runs to help his team out.
KINGS XI PUNJAB
PLAY-OFF CHANCES
KXIP are out of form, with only one win from their last five clashes.They will need to register big wins moving on, and hope for other teams to fail.
WHAT THEY NEED
A middle-order. Barring Rahul & Gayle, none of their batsmen have contributed. Mayank, Nair & Finch will need to step up to the plate to see them through.